Raincheck
by DarkDreamer56
Summary: NS What was Nick up to in between shifts during Weeping Willows?


Title: Raincheck  
Author: DarkDreamer56  
Archive: If you want it, ask please!  
Rating: T  
Pairing: N/S  
Disclaimer: If I owned them, Nick and Sara would be together, and Warrick would be shirtless all the time…  
Spoilers: mild spoilers for "Weeping Willows" (5x22)

A/N: I wrote this based on Brianna's challenge posted at the Snickers group, to come up with the reason why Nick asked Catherine for a raincheck, and to make it something other than staying in and watching a movie. And I promise, I'm thisclose to finishing the next chapter for UC, but with all the promos and spoilers from the season finale, I've got all these little ideas floating around. So I probably won't have the next chapter posted until this weekend, after I recover from "Grave Danger." I don't know about anyone else, but I'm stocking up on Kleenex and Ben and Jerry's. Enjoy!

* * *

"Raincheck?"

As soon as Warrick had told Catherine that he had other plans, Nick figured it wouldn't be a good idea to invite her along with them. Truthfully, Nick didn't mind much. The past few weeks, Nick had pretty much had his fill of Catherine at work, and he had no real desire to spend his precious off time with her too. Nick had had a rough week, and wanted nothing more than to relax out with his friends.

"Hey man, I'm gonna head home and shower, I'll meet you guys there in awhile," Nick whispered as he and Warrick neared the locker room.

"It's cool, Greg won't get out of here for at least another hour, and Sara wasn't going to meet us for awhile either." Warrick pushed through the door and sauntered over to his locker, pulling his shirt over his head, before opening his locker and pulling out a clean one. Nick quickly gathered his own things and headed home.

An hour and a half later, Nick had showered, changed, and was now searching through the crowded bar for a glimpse of Warrick, Sara, or Greg. He finally spotted them at a table in the back, next to the pool table that had seen better days.

As he made his way over to the table, he couldn't help but smile. The shift split had been rough on all of them, and for awhile, the two shifts had hardly seen each other. A few weeks ago, however, Greg had invited him and Warrick out for a beer after Greg got out early. The next week, he invited them again, and this time Sara had joined them; it had become habit ever since, at least once a week, to meet at a local bar and unwind. The person with the worst case that week was supplied with free alcohol all night by the rest. Sometimes, Sofia Curtis would join them, but Nick always liked it best when it was just the four of them; it just felt more normal to him, something that he hadn't felt much of as of late. And tonight, it seemed, would just be them.

From the looks of things, Warrick and Greg were arguing about something, and Sara was biting her lip to keep from laughing at them. It had been weeks, maybe months, since Nick had seen Sara looking so good. The year had been rough on all of them, but Sara much more so than the rest. Still, it appeared that months of burdens and depression had finally lifted in the past few weeks, a few incidents notwithstanding. She looked well rested, a testament to her night off, there was color in her cheeks, a bounce in the loose curls that hung about her face, and she was filling out her jeans and snug, strappy tank top quite nicely. Nick took a moment to admire that particular sight while she was too distracted to notice.

"Hey, all I'm saying is that I should've won that week," Greg argued, taking a sizable swig from the beer in his hand.

"Sorry, Nick's case trumped deadly mold," Warrick shot back matter-of-factly. "He won that one fair and square…"

"But I was manhandled by biohazard people! I had to take a Hazmat shower…"

Warrick chuckled. "Sanders, don't even start, you know why? Because that statement will always end with a key piece of information: 'with Sara.' There is no way that that qualifies as the worst case of the week. Some would argue quite the opposite. Now Sara, having to shower with your skinny ass…"

Nick settled himself net to Greg, amused at the infusion of pink into Sara's cheeks as she rolled her eyes. He couldn't help but notice how attractive she looked, a thought that had been running rampant through his mind since they had begun to spend time together again.

"I don't think you could find a man in our lab that wouldn't have traded places with you on that one, sorry Greggo," Nick drawled, glancing at Sara and watching her blush again.

"For some reason, I don't really think I'm Warrick's type," Sara shot back, trying to shift the attention off of her.

"Yeah, he seems to have a thing for blonds in authority," Greg agreed.

"Nah, I was thinking more of an obsessive compulsive DNA tech," Sara teased.

Warrick chuckled nervously. "Mia's cool, and Cath, well lately I'm just not sure…"

Nick jumped in to clarify. "I think Warrick is trying to politely say that Catherine seems more interested in her newfound power than anything, or anyone else."

Warrick shook his head, but made no move to refute Nick's statement. There was an awkward moment of silence while Warrick, Greg, and Sara busied themselves with the bottles in front of them. Nick finally broke the silence.

"I'm gonna grab something to drink, do you guys want anything?"

Sara stood up and grabbed the empty bottles. "I'll go up with you."

Nick grinned and followed her up to the bar. He ordered two more beers and then turned and gave her a once over. She was leaning up against the bar, and shot him a quizzical look.

"What?" she asked self consciously, "Do I have something on me?" Her eyes shot down to her shirt, looking for something out of place.

"No, I was just thinking that you look pretty good tonight."

Sara gave him a lopsided smile. "You mean as opposed to every other day?"

Nick chuckled, "I didn't say that; I just like the relaxed Sara look. Haven't seen it in a few years."

Sara blushed again, and averted her eyes to the floor, a smile tugging at her lips as she pulled a five dollar bill out of her pocket. She tried to hand it to the bartender, but Nick swatted her hand away as he handed the guy his credit card.

"Tonight's on me."

"Nick, you don't have to do that."

"Too late, already did."

Sara paused for a moment, and Nick could tell she was trying to think up a logical argument. Nick thought he shouldn't have been surprised; it had always been hard for Sara to accept anything from anyone else, even if it was only a drink. Often times it made Nick wonder exactly what had happened to make her so leery of other people, and he wished he could change all of that for her. Still, before he had anymore time to contemplate the situation, the bartender was handing him the slip to sign.

After he signed and handed it back, he turned to Sara again, who was already taking a sip from her beer.

"So how are you doing?" he asked, wincing at how lame it sounded. So he wasn't surprised when Sara rolled her eyes.

"We've known each other for five years, and that's the best you could come up with?"

"No, I mean, last week…how are you doing?"

Sara frowned for a second, obviously remembering the incident at Desert State, and Nick kicked himself for bringing it up. The frown was soon replaced by a small smile, as Sara patted Nick on the arm.

"I'm okay, I mean, I was scared…but it's over, and I'm moving past it. No worries, okay?"

"Oh, I've got at least another two weeks of worrying about you, over that incident alone. Some of us haven't had the full week to deplete our worrying energy," Nick replied, only half teasing. When he walked into the break room a few days after Sara was attacked, oblivious to the event until he overheard Hodges say something to Archie about it, he had been consumed by worry and rushed off to find her, but he had also been hurt that she hadn't told him about it. "But I'm glad you're okay."

"Thanks Nick, you're a good guy," she told him quietly, before gesturing back towards their table. "Now, what do you say we get back there before Greg and Warrick start an arm wrestling contest?"

Nick picked up his beer and followed her back to the table. Warrick and Greg had moved to the pool table, and Greg suggested a game of pool.

"Teams?" Warrick asked as he set up the table.

"I'll take Sar," Nick announced, nudging her side.

"That's alright, Rick and I are gonna wipe the floor with you two. No offense Sar."

Sara rolled her eyes and grabbed a stick from the wall behind her. With expert precision, she broke, sending not one, but two solid balls into two different pockets.

"You were saying Greg?" she asked sweetly, as Nick chuckled behind her. She handed her stick to Nick, leaning up against the wall next to him as Greg grabbed a cue and headed for the table.

The game stayed fairly competitive, and Nick was glad to see that the friendly banter between the group had returned. He also didn't mind being able to shamelessly check Sara out as she set up each of her shots. He realized just how much he loved her in those jeans, and then his mind wandered to just how much he would love her out of those jeans. He was still smirking as she turned around, and he was caught in the act. Nick would have been embarrassed, had he not caught Sara engaging in the very same activity the last time he had taken a shot. He cocked his head, grinning as she came to stand beside him, her arm brushing up against his as she settled against the wall.

Nick was beginning to wonder why he had never acted on all of the flirting that went on between him and Sara over their years of working together. He was attracted to her, that was for sure, and he genuinely cared about her, but her infatuation with Grissom had always deterred him. Still, the way Sara had been looking at him the past few times that had gone out, and the way she was acting tonight, certainly was making Nick question that line of thought. Maybe it was time for him to spend some time with her without Greg and Warrick around, and see where things might go.

Sara nudged him in the side, bringing Nick out of his thoughts as he realized that it was his turn. He quickly assessed the table, realizing that the only ball left for him to sink was the eight ball. He glanced back at Sara, knowing that victory was theirs, and grinned when he saw her eyes glued to his butt. After calling his shot while Warrick and Greg rolled their eyes, Nick effortlessly sunk the eight ball. He hung the cue back up on the wall and drained the rest of his beer.

"Sorry guys, looks like Sar and I wiped the floor with you two."

"Eh, I wasn't fully warmed up, and you stuck me here with Rick."

"Hey now," Warrick interjected, "I wasn't the one who missed three shots. Next time, I say we switch it up a little. What do you say Sar, partners this time?" His chest puffed out a little as he winked at Sara.

Sara laughed. "Well, sorry guys, but your sad display of manhood is going to have to wait, Nick here owes me a dance." Sara placed her bottle on the edge of the table, and began to walk towards the small, crowded area of the bar reserved for dancing.

Nick shot Warrick and Greg a mock apologetic look before turning and following Sara, admiring the sway of her hips as she walked past the bar. When he caught up to her, he placed his hand at the small of her back and leaned down to whisper in her ear.

"So what exactly do I owe you this dance for?" His voice came out a little huskier than intended, but Sara didn't seem to mind.

She cocked her head towards him, revealing that gap tooth smile that he loved so much. It surprised, and somewhat pleased him, to see the nervousness she was trying to mask behind her eyes.

"Does there have to be a reason?" she replied coyly, eliciting a chuckle from Nick as he shook his head and guided her to a less crowded spot on the dance floor.

Sara draped her arms around Nick's neck as he wrapped and arm around her waist, pulling her into his embrace as he rested his other hand on her hip. It had been far too long since the last time Nick had had the opportunity to have a legitimate reason for Sara to be in his arms, and he fully intended to enjoy it. Seether's, "Broken" blared from the sound system as Sara sighed and placed her head on his shoulder.

"You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that you were hitting on me," Nick teased, running his palm across the small of her back, pleased when she snuggled closer to him, and began to play with the hair on the nape of his neck. Nick was surprised that she didn't respond, leaving his imagination to wander as to what exactly was happening between them. It took nearly the rest of the song for Nick to gather the nerve to ask the question that had been on his mind nearly all night.

"So Sar, I don't want to cross any lines, but…"

"The last time you started a conversation like that, you were trying to set me up with one of your friends," Sara interrupted, causing Nick to chuckle.

"I can promise you that I'm not trying to set you up with one of my friends."

"So then what are you trying to do?" There was that smile again, as she raised her head to look him in the eye and quirked an eyebrow.

Nick exhaled loudly, frustrated at his inability to get a simple question out. "Well, it seems that I'm doing a pretty bad job at trying to ask you out."

Sara grinned. "Well, you can't be doing that badly if I haven't said no yet."

Nick mustered the most hopeful expression he was capable of. "So you're saying yes?"

"You haven't asked me anything yet." She toyed with the collar of his shirt, distracting him for a moment as he felt her fingers brush up against his Adam's apple.

"You're not going to make this easy for me, are you?"

Sara shook her head and bit her lip.

"Well, would you like to go out with me sometime?"

"We're out right now…"

"Sara…"

"Okay, okay. Nick, I would love to go out with you sometime."

Nick couldn't stop the grin from spreading across his face, and he was pleased to see Sara's smile mirror his own. His eyes locked on hers, and suddenly he didn't care that they were in the middle of a crowded bar, or that there was a very good chance that Warrick and Greg were watching them. All he was concerned with was how pretty Sara looked, curls bouncing around her shoulders, and how tempting her lips looked to him at that moment. Before he knew it, Nick was leaning down, eagerly anticipating their lips meeting in their first kiss. His lips brushed against her gently, and soon her hands were back at the nape of his neck, pulling him closer as they deepened the kiss.

Several minutes later, Sara pulled back, a frown gracing her face. Nick wondered if he had misread the situation, and he stepped back, running his hand over his head and sighing. Had they just made a huge mistake?

Nick felt Sara's hand firmly on his chest, and he chanced a look up into her eyes.

"No! No, it's not you. That…was amazing." There was a sparkle in her eye that Nick had never seen before, and her face was lit up with the brightest smile Nick thought possible. He let out the breath he had been holding. He placed his hand back tentatively on her hip. "It's just my phone, it's vibrating. You know what that usually means," Sara explained, hastily grabbing her phone out of her back pocket. She sighed after reading the message. "Grissom needs me in at work. Knew I should have left the damn thing at home…" she grumbled.

Just then, Nick noticed Greg walking towards them with a smirk on his face. "Gris just called, and he needs us to come in."

"See, he would have gotten to you anyway," Nick replied, squeezing her hip gently before releasing his grip. He tried to be quick as not to draw Greg's attention, but Greg had always been good at noticing detail. Greg raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms.

"Was I interrupting something?" he queried, knowing full well what had been going on.

Sara reached for Nick's hand, entwining their fingers and squeezing. Nick was sure his face would hurt the next day from all of the intense smiles Sara had been eliciting from him all night. "Nothing that we can't finish up later." Sara leaned into him for a minute before leading him back to the table.

Warrick raised his eyebrows as Nick and Sara approached the table, still holding hands and lagging a little behind Greg, but he wisely said nothing about the newest development between his coworkers.

"I guess we'll see you guys tomorrow then," Sara told them, grabbing her jacket from the back of her chair and releasing Nick's hand after giving him a sad smile. Nick thought about offering to walk her out to the car, using it as a pretense to talk to her about what had just transpired, but from the looks Warrick and Greg were shooting him, he knew they'd see right through it. So instead he placed his hand on her shoulder, leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on her lips, before whispering, "Call me when you get off, okay?"

Two shocked faces stared back at Nick as Sara nodded, blushing yet again as she dragged a speechless Greg towards the door. Nick watched them walk out, not tearing his gaze away until the bar door shut behind them. When he finally looked over at Warrick, he saw the cheesy grin crossing his friend's face.

"What?" Nick asked, as if it was perfectly normal to kiss Sara in front of his friends.

Warrick chuckled. "Well, it looks like Catherine is going to have to wait on that raincheck. I have a feeling that you're going to be pretty busy for awhile." Warrick's expression turned serious after a moment. "Just be good to her. She deserves it."

Nick nodded solemnly, grabbing his jacket. "I think I'm gonna head home."

"Yeah, me too," Warrick replied, following Nick towards the parking lot. "But remember what I said. Greggo's growing up, and I think that both of us could kick your ass, and if you hurt her, we will." There was a teasing quality in Warrick's eyes, but Nick knew the seriousness behind it. And he had no plans to make their threat reality.

FIN.

Let me know what you think in a review!


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